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This is a Darden case study.

The VIRGINIA-class submarine was one of the largest naval-acquisition projects in history, involving the construction of 30 submarines at an acquisition cost of $93 billion. By FY05, the VIRGINIA-class program was in its 10th year. Construction had begun on seven submarines. Unit costs were running 41% over the base-line budget, and production goals were not being met. Ship construction budget limits necessitated a 20% unit-cost reduction, an unprecedented task on a ship already in serial production. How would the program office achieve that goal and prevent the program from being truncated, the fate of its predecessor the SEAWOLF-class?

learning objective:

1. Examine the issues that have plagued major acquisitions and how to overcome those issues. 2. Estimate risk for various sourcing options, mitigating risks and estimating probability of success for a sourcing strategy. 3. Develop and communicate a comprehensive sourcing strategy. 4. Lead a long term, major acquisition program to meet aggressive goals 5. Understand the processes, structure and metrics needed to ensure success. 6. Learn strategic sourcing principles, processes, structure and metrics for major acquisitions based on industry best practices and recent lessons learned 7. Know the importance of available tools to reduce costs and improve production time - 1-5-8 labor rule, value stream analysis, LEAN/Six Sigma and best value analysis of design and production process improvements 8. Appreciate the importance and mechanics of teaming with the shipbuilders and other stakeholders to get their commitment to cost reduction initiatives.

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description

This is a Darden case study.

The VIRGINIA-class submarine was one of the largest naval-acquisition projects in history, involving the construction of 30 submarines at an acquisition cost of $93 billion. By FY05, the VIRGINIA-class program was in its 10th year. Construction had begun on seven submarines. Unit costs were running 41% over the base-line budget, and production goals were not being met. Ship construction budget limits necessitated a 20% unit-cost reduction, an unprecedented task on a ship already in serial production. How would the program office achieve that goal and prevent the program from being truncated, the fate of its predecessor the SEAWOLF-class?

learning objective:

1. Examine the issues that have plagued major acquisitions and how to overcome those issues. 2. Estimate risk for various sourcing options, mitigating risks and estimating probability of success for a sourcing strategy. 3. Develop and communicate a comprehensive sourcing strategy. 4. Lead a long term, major acquisition program to meet aggressive goals 5. Understand the processes, structure, and metrics needed to ensure success. 6. Learn strategic sourcing principles, processes, structure and metrics for major acquisitions based on industry best practices and recent lessons learned 7. Know the importance of available tools to reduce costs and improve production time - 1-5-8 labor rule, value stream analysis, LEAN/Six Sigma and best value analysis of design and production process improvements 8. Appreciate the importance and mechanics of teaming with the shipbuilders and other stakeholders to get their commitment to cost reduction initiatives.

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This case is about the financial impact of negative publicity and a company's reaction. A Public Service Enterprise Group had ownership interest in five nuclear power plants, three of which were located in Lower Alloways Creek, New Jersey. These three plants had been cited for concerns about a safety conscious work environment by a fired employee and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. One U.S. senator and two congressmen had written a letter to NRC requesting an investigation of the situation.

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Dominion Resources was the fourth-largest operator of nuclear power plants in the United States with seven nuclear reactors in operation. Two of the reactors had been acquired in the past five years: Millstone (2) in 2001 and Kewaunee in 2005. This case is about excellent due diligence and financial disclosure in acquiring major fixed assets (nuclear power plants) and the impact on the financial results and investor confidence.

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In March 2002, during a scheduled refueling outage, workers at FirstEnergy's Davis-Besse nuclear power plant found a football-sized hole in the reactor head caused by boric acid corrosion. Redundant shielding prevented any radiation leakage, but FirstEnergy projected the outage would last two to three months and cost from $15 million to $30 million. Instead, the outage lasted 26 months and cost $588.9 million. Students will learn the financial impact of the event, how investors reacted, and lessons in financial transparency.

learning objective:

Students will learn the financial impact of FirstEnergy's Davis-Besse nuclear power plant event, how investors reacted, and lessons in financial transparency.

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On April 8, 1787, James Madison wrote to Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia: "My Dear Friend, I am glad to find that you are turning your thoughts towards the business of May next." Madison was referring to the Federal Convention scheduled to begin the next month in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. Madison's project was for an entirely new form of government-although the upcoming gathering had made clear its aim of merely improving the existing government under the Articles of Confederation. This case explores the extraordinary leadership of James Madison who had few stereotypical qualities of a leader.

learning objective:

Leadership is about what leaders do, not stereotypical qualities. Extraordinary preparation and perseverance can overcome oratory deficits.

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On May 30, 1787, the second day of the Convention held in the Pennsylvania State House, six states voted "aye" and one "nay" to the proposal to establish "a national Government ... consisting of a supreme Legislative, Executive and Judiciary." In that moment, delegates who had gathered merely to revise the Articles of Confederation agreed to abolish it. In that moment, James Madison earned the title of Father of the Constitution, although he had not even introduced the proposal.

learning objective:

Extraordinary leadership comes from what a leader does and not from stereotypical personal traits.

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This case is an excellent illustration of offline/online integration. Office Depot used its supply chain, systems integration, and existing offline channel strengths to overcome competitive online threats from pure Internet players and other office-products-category players. Students get to consider the critical strategic options for overall strategy, pricing, product line, promotion, and business integration.

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This case is about the strategic-sourcing process: leading a major acquisition program with an unprecedented schedule and an unprepared industrial base. Soldiers in Iraq are dying in increasing numbers from improvised explosive devices planted in roads by insurgents. Up-armored Humvees offer little to no protection. Specialty vehicles with v-shaped bottoms to deflect blasts had been developed in South Africa and Rhodesia in the 1970s. The MRAP Vehicle Joint Program Office's mission was to procure up to 20,000 of these commercial off-the-shelf vehicles and get them to Iraq within 30 months. Yet U.S. production is fewer than 10 vehicles per month because not enough tires, ballistics-grade steel, and other raw materials are available. The daunting task: to undertake the fastest vehicle procurement since the Jeep in World War II, ramping up the industrial base, and overcoming the bureaucratic logjam in Department of Defense procedures.

learning objective:

1. Learning from past major acquisition failures. 2. Using effects-based thinking to develop a sourcing strategy. 3. Estimating risk, mitigating risk, and estimating the probability of success under various sourcing strategies. 4. Understanding the processes, structure, and metrics needed to ensure success.

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This is a Darden case study.

After the successful implementation of Lean manufacturing concepts at U.S. Navy Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Depot (AIMD) Lemoore, particularly with regard to the maintenance processes for the F404 engine on the F/A-18 Hornet, these concepts have became the standard by which production across all AIMDs are measured. Now assigned to NAVAIR, the person responsible for these changes is eager to apply the lessons of AIMD Lemoore across the entire NAVAIR Enterprise.

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